Question PSU sparking & popping

[jordow47]

Recently when I go to turn on the power to the adapter that powers my pc, and monitors, there is a loud popping sound, and more recently visible sparks and a bright white flash. I’m using an EVGA 1000GQ gold power supply, I’ve been using it roughly a year now.

I’m not sure what can have done this as I’m always careful with my pc, and it doesn’t get knocked, dropped kicked etc.

I do have a slow mo video of this happening, I can attach it later on if someone thinks it’ll will help my issue.

Would the best course of action to be to rma it?

 

[bignastyid]

Stop using it and RMA it asap.

 

[dragaxx]

Sounds like its a brick now. RMA? Did you just purchase the Power supply?

 

[Deleted member 14196]

i hope it didn't snap, crackle and pop any connected devices, like motherboards, cpus, gpus.... ram

 

[jordow47]

i hope it didn't snap, crackle and pop any connected devices, like motherboards, cpus, gpus.... ram

Well, I’ve actually been using my pc as normal (probably a bad idea) but I’ve had no other issues and all my other components seem to be working perfectly. Although now I’m going to pull it from the system.

 

[jordow47]

Sounds like its a brick now. RMA? Did you just purchase the Power supply?

No, I’ve had it for roughly a year now, I’m confused as to why it’s suddenly become an issue

 

[Deleted member 14196]

psu's fail. everything does over time. what's the brand and model?

 

[bignastyid]

psu's fail. everything does over time. what's the brand and model?

Op posted the model in the second sentence.

 

[jonnyguru]

Recently when I go to turn on the power to the adapter that powers my pc, and monitors, there is a loud popping sound, and more recently visible sparks and a bright white flash. I’m using an EVGA 1000GQ gold power supply, I’ve been using it roughly a year now.

I’m not sure what can have done this as I’m always careful with my pc, and it doesn’t get knocked, dropped kicked etc.

I do have a slow mo video of this happening, I can attach it later on if someone thinks it’ll will help my issue.

Would the best course of action to be to rma it?

That's actually quite normal considering how you're torturing your poor PSU by turning it on and off through a power strip.

Why are you doing this? ATX PCs are meant to stay in standby. They're not meant to have their mains power cut off on a daily basis.

Your PSU has a bulk cap that is supposed to remain charged. When you discontinue mains power, the cap will slowly discharge. When you turn power back on to the PSU, that cap has to recharge. The large rush of current into the PSU is called "in rush". It can be enough power to cause arcing across the switch terminals, etc.

Eventually, in-rush will kill the PSU. I suggest you stop switching it off and on every day, night, etc. whatever if you want to prolong the life of your PSU.

 

[jordow47]

That's actually quite normal considering how you're torturing your poor PSU by turning it on and off through a power strip.

Why are you doing this? ATX PCs are meant to stay in standby. They're not meant to have their mains power cut off on a daily basis.

Your PSU has a bulk cap that is supposed to remain charged. When you discontinue mains power, the cap will slowly discharge. When you turn power back on to the PSU, that cap has to recharge. The large rush of current into the PSU is called "in rush". It can be enough power to cause arcing across the switch terminals, etc.

Eventually, in-rush will kill the PSU. I suggest you stop switching it off and on every day, night, etc. whatever if you want to prolong the life of your PSU.

Thanks for the reply, I didn't know this at all! My father is someone who hates leaving any plugs on at all, so I do this as well lol, so should I just plug the psu into a socket on it's own, so it's not in the adapter and leave it on permanently? Also if I know im not going to use the pc for a while, is it okay to turn off the plug completely?

Thanks again for the help!!

 

[captaincharisma]

Thanks for the reply, I didn't know this at all! My father is someone who hates leaving any plugs on at all, so I do this as well lol, so should I just plug the psu into a socket on it's own, so it's not in the adapter and leave it on permanently? Also if I know im not going to use the pc for a while, is it okay to turn off the plug completely?

Thanks again for the help!!

NO! unless you want your entire computer to get fried from a random power surge then you want to keep it plugged into a surge protector

if that is what your family members do all the time i am surprised other electronics in your house haven't failed too

and from now on if you are going to unplug your computer first turn it off from the power switch on the back of the PSU first after it is completely shutdown first

 

[jonnyguru]

Thanks for the reply, I didn't know this at all! My father is someone who hates leaving any plugs on at all, so I do this as well lol, so should I just plug the psu into a socket on it's own, so it's not in the adapter and leave it on permanently? Also if I know im not going to use the pc for a while, is it okay to turn off the plug completely?

Thanks again for the help!!

I'm not sure what "adapter" means. I assume you're talking about a surge protector of some sort?

As @captaincharisma stated: You DO want to use a surge protector of some sorts rather than plugging directly into the wall. Just don't go switching it on and off every day.

To answer your question about not using the PC for extended periods: Sure. You can turn it off in that case. Just don't turn it on and off every day. You're not saving any money on electricity and you're not doing your PSU any favors.

 

[jordow47]

I'm not sure what "adapter" means. I assume you're talking about a surge protector of some sort?

As @captaincharisma stated: You DO want to use a surge protector of some sorts rather than plugging directly into the wall. Just don't go switching it on and off every day.

To answer your question about not using the PC for extended periods: Sure. You can turn it off in that case. Just don't turn it on and off every day. You're not saving any money on electricity and you're not doing your PSU any favors.

Sorry, I meant adapter as in a surge protected power strip. Thanks for the heads up, i've just never heard about it before, and i'm surprised this didn't happen to my previous PSU that I had for 4 years!

I thought keeping the electronics on like monitors and computers was bad, and could reduce their life.


Thanks again!

 

[jonnyguru]

Sorry, I meant adapter as in a surge protected power strip. Thanks for the heads up, i've just never heard about it before, and i'm surprised this didn't happen to my previous PSU that I had for 4 years!

I thought keeping the electronics on like monitors and computers was bad, and could reduce their life.


Thanks again!

The higher the wattage PSU, the higher the inrush current. So if you had a lower wattage PSU before, you would see less "sparking and popping" because the bulk caps would be smaller and require less charge.